Stack of building blocks



Sept. 3, 1957 P. M. THOMAS STACK OF BUILDING BLOCKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed Feb. 5, 1953 INVENTOR Paul M. Thomas BY M1 ATTORNEY Sept.3, i957 P. M. THOMAS 9 STACK OF BUILDING BLOCKS Original Filed Feb. 5,1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3

Fig. 4

INVENTOR Paul M. Thomas BY ,JWKJ/M ATTORNEY nited tates Patent--'Divided and this application June 7, 1954, Serial No.

1 Claim. c1.z14-1o.5

This invention appertains to a method of forming a stack of buildingblocks or similar articles and to a pile or stack of such blocks and isa divisional application of my copending abandoned application, SerialNo. 335,187, filed February 5, 1953.

In the making and handling of concrete building blocks, which are formedwith vertical air openings, it is an established practice to manuallyremove the blocks from drying racks and manually stack or pile them toform piles or stacks for loading and transport. In my copendingapplication, I provide a machine for automatically removing the blocksfrom drying racks and stacking them in piles or stacks of cube form. Oneof the features of such machine is a means for positioning the bottomlayer of the stacks so that the openings in the blocks can receive thetines of the lifting fork of a small industrial truck. Thus, the bottomlayer of the stacks is made up of blocks set on edge so that theiropenings are horizontally' arranged and the subsequent upper layers arecomposed of blocks set flatwise with their openings vertically arranged.The stack, when formed, thus consists of a bottom layer of blocks placedon edge and upper layers consolidated into vertical tiers. The lateralstability of such a stack is adequate but the stack lacks adequate foreand aft stability, that is, forwardly and rearwardly, axially of thealigned openings in the blocks of the bottom layer.

Therefore, the primary object of this invention is to provide a methodof forming such a stack so that it possesses fore and aft stability andso that the layers or tiers are so intersupported as to resist anymovement fore and aft of the stack.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of forming sucha stack by interlacing flexible elements back and forth around thelayers in a fore and aft direction of the stack, the flexible elementspreferably being applied S-wise or zig-zag between the layers as thestack is being built up.

A further object of this invention is to provide a stack of suchbuilding blocks, which stack consists of interlaced layers that possessfore and aft stability, as well as lateral stability and which stack canbe picked up by the lifting forks of a truck without any shifting orsliding of the layers and without any undue relative movement of theblocks of any of the layers.

The foregoing and ancillary objects are attained by this invention, thepreferred form of which is set forth in the following description andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stack, shown in final condition forbeing picked up and moved by the fork lift truck.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the first step in forming the stack andshows a stringer member which strings the twine or similar elements overthe layers of blocks in the stack;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of a fragmentary portion of a stackingapparatus, as disclosed in my co- Patented Sept. 3, 1957 pendingapplication, and shows the stack in side elevation and in the process ofbeing formed;

Fig. 4 is a view, similar to Fig. 3, and showing the stack after anotherlayer has been added thereto.

In my copending application, I disclose a stacking apparatus forreceiving layers of blocks from horizontal trays of a tray elevatorcage, the layers of blocks having been automatically placed on the traysfrom the pallets of a drying and curing device. Such apparatus includesa vertically movable stacking table 10 which is supported laterally onlifting rails 12 which are elevatable on vertical slides 14. A stackingplate 16 operates within the stacking apparatus and together with aturn-over trough 18 receives the layers of blocks from the trays of theelevator cage. Such structure is fully disclosed in my copendingapplication and only is disclosed generally herein for the purpose ofclearly describing the method of forming the stack.

The bottom layer 26 of the stack 22 consists of blocks 24 which havebeen turned on edge by the turn-over trough which is a part of aturn-over mechanism (not shown herein but disclosed in my copendingapplication). Such blocks are flat and rectangular. The blocks have coreholes or openings with parallel sides which extend through the tops andbottoms of the blocks. Of course, such blocks are merely exemplary ofthe type of blocks with which this invention is particularly intended todeal. The bottom layer 2% is composed of such blocks 24, which areplaced on end so that the openings are horizontally disposed and theopenings in the blocks of one row are all in alignment. turn-overmechanism which acts on the last row 25 (Fig. 3) of each layer comingfrom each of the elevator trays. In the initial step in forming thestack 22, the bottom layer is formed by depositing the locks from theturnover mechanism onto the stacking table 10, as disclosed in mycopending application. After the bottom layer 20 is formed on the tablellha stringing member or rack 26 is moved horizontally to a positionoverlying the bottom layer. As shown in Fig. 2 and more fully disclosedin my copending application, the stringing rack 26 has longitudinallyspaced parallel inner and outer end bars 28 and 30 which are joined bylongitudinal slide bars 32. The slide bars carry rollers 34 which slideon channel rails 36. Three laterally spaced guide eyes 38 depend fromthe outer end bar 30 and gathering eyes 40 depend from the left slidebar 32. Suitable flexible elements or lacing material, such as the twine42 are provided. There are three twine strands 42a, 42b and 42c and suchstrands commonly run through the gathering eyes 40 from suitable sources(not shown but such as balls disposed remotely of the rack). The twinestrands then individually pass through guide eyes 38 and extendlongitudinally in parallel reaches between the slide bars 32.

After the bottom layer is formed on the table 10, the stringing rack ismoved rectilinearly to a position overlying the bottom layer, as shownin Fig. 2. During such movement the free ends 44 of the twin strands areman ually held to play out the reaches of the twine strands over thebottom layer. The twine lacings are carried back and forth alternatelyfrom the front to rear of the stack being built up and are therebyplaced in Zigzag manner between the layers of the stack. In other wordsas shown in Figs. 3 and 4, wherein the lacings are slightly exaggeratedin diameter to show the manner of placement thereof, the lacings areapplied S-wise between the layers as the stack is built up.

For a clearer understanding of this, attention is directed to Figs. 3and 4. In Fig. 3, the layer 46 has been placed on the layer 48 and therack 26 has been moved to a position overlying the layer 46 and bringingthe twine lacings over the upper face of the layer 46. The twine lacingsare played out over the layer 46 as the rack is The bottom layer isformed by the I from the stacking plate 16 onto the twinelacings-overlying the layer 46', the layer 50 passing. down through therack and seating. on the lacings. The stacking'table is'then moved downor lowered the distance of the thickness or height of the layer 50. Therack is then moved rearwardly or to the left, as shown in Fig. 4 andthelacings are pulled rearwardly across the top of the layer50. The

rackis moved rearwardly until the outerorfront'end bar 28 clears thestack. The next layer 5210f Fig. 4 is'then letdown from the plate 16'onto the layer 50 and seats on the twine lacings which extend across thetop thereof.

It will be noted that ther are three twine strands or lacings providedwhich number is governed'by the number of'blocks forming the width ofthe stack 22. In the drawings the stack is composed in width of threeblocks'so that it is three blocks in width. Therefore, three lacings orstrands are provided. If the stack were four blocks in width, then therack would be wider and another guide eye for another twine lacing wouldbe provided;

In using the terminology fore and aft in the foregoing description andin the claim what is meant is the direction axially of the core holes oropenings of the blocks of .the bottom layer 20 of the stack 22. Thelacings are disposed across the front ends of alternate layers andacross the rear ends of intermediate layers so that the lacings areapplied in an S-wise or zig-zag fashion fore and aft of the stack. Therear end of the stack is the end which faces the truck 54, the fork 56of which moves into the aligned openings of the blocks in the bottomlayer to locate the stack thereon. Due to the twine lacings, the stackis compact and firm and can be easily moved by the truck 54.

While the stack has been described and shown during its building-upprocess, as moving downwardly, while the rack only reciprocates in ahorizontal plane, it is possible for the rack to also move in a verticalplane about'the stack during the stringing operation. Also, while it ispreferred that a machine be used, the stringing could be carried out byhand, if necessary, though it would be a tedious and cumbersomeoperation.

Thus, while the best known form and method of practicing this inventionhas been shown in the drawings and described therein, such is merely byway of example and other forms and methods of practicing the inventionmay be realized as come within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim: A cubical stack of hollow cored hole concrete blocks arrangedfor handling and transporting including a first row of upturned blockspositioned with the axes of the core holes horizontally arranged inparallel, a series of parallel stabilizing cords extending over the topsurface of said upturned row of blocks and parallel to the axes of saidcored holes thereof, a second layer of blocks lying .flatwise on top ofsaid cords and in abutment contact with the top surface of said firstupturned row, said.

blocks in said second row being in sidewise abutment contact, said cordsextending vertically upward over one end of said second row andhorizontally over the top surface of said second row to the other endthereof and parallel to said axes of said cored holes of said first rowof blocks, subsequent rows of fiatwise arranged blocks each rowrespectively positioned on said cords in abutment contact with the topsurface of the blocks of the row below and in sidewise abutment contactwith each other, said cords extending vertically upwardly over alternateends of each successive row to the top of said cubical stack andparallel to said axes of said cored holes of the first row of blocks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

